Tarrant County leaders have revealed the newly renovated training facility for the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office.
Sheriff Bill Waybourn was joined by Judge Tim O' Hare, Commissioner Manny Ramirez and other county employees Wednesday for a blue-ribbon cutting ceremony at the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office Training Facility.
The building took about three years to upgrade and had support from O'Hare and Ramirez since the renovation plan was introduced to commissioners during a meeting in 2023.
"It is a vision I did not think would happen during my tenure," Waybourn said at the ceremony.
The 70,000 square feet academy includes six classrooms, two driving simulators, a weapons simulator, a defensive tactics room with two full size jail cells and a full-size fitness center. It cost $25 million to renovate the building, according to the sheriff's office.
The sheriff's office also welcomed a new class of 57 cadets Monday and are the first to start training in the new building. Their process is expected to take six weeks before getting hired.
"Here, we don't look at law enforcement as the bad guys," O'Hare said during Wednesday's ceremony. "We know you're the good guys. And we know you are separating law-abiding citizens from the evil that exists out there."
Ramirez, a former Fort Worth officer, praised the efforts he said the county put into the facility.
"If we are to be the best sheriff's office in the nation, then we're going to invest like it," Ramirez said. "That's what we decided to do with this police academy."
It comes as the Tarrant County Jail — which the sheriff's office oversees — continues to face understaffing issues.
That number has dwindled over the years, dropping from more than 200 openings in 2023 to 130 openings, according to O'Hare at his state of the county speech last month.
That number has dropped to 102 openings as of Wednesday, Waybourn told KERA News after the ceremony.
There's been other initiatives to help fill those gaps, including a contract with a private jail staffing company that was terminated early. But the new facility would be "top of the list" as far as recruitment goes, Waybourn said.
"People will want to be part of something like this, and it'll be exciting to them," Waybourn said. "They'll see that the county cares about their training, and that it's an important thing to have well-trained law enforcement people."
Penelope Rivera is KERA's Tarrant County Accountability Reporter. Got a tip? Email Penelope Rivera at privera@kera.org.
KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider making a tax-deductible gift today. Thank you.
